
Several coaches are being linked to the Real Madrid bench. Some would need too much time; others lack club experience. Meanwhile, one authoritative voice prefers to bet on an old friend from the youth academy.
Jorge Valdano, a Real Madrid player from 1984 to 1987 and coach of the merengue team from 1994 to 1996, put the supposed candidates for the Madrid bench next season under his analytical magnifying glass.
The former footballer, 70, spoke on Movistar Plus+ Deportes about Jose Mourinho, Mauricio Pochettino, Jurgen Klopp, Lionel Scaloni, and Didier Deschamps.
What the Argentine is clear about is that “Mourinho (Benfica) is already a page past at the club and I do not think he will return.”
Valdano highlighted that “Pochettino (United States) is a coach who was already very close to coming to Real Madrid twice. And when that happens, it is because it is evident that he is a coach profile that is very appealing to the club.”
About the Frenchman Deschamps, current France coach, he noted that “we are talking about a coach who is a world champion, and he might suit Madrid. We must remember that Tchouameni, Camavinga, and Mbappe are here, and he is a coach who knows them and has managed them well.”
Jorge Valdano believes that Real Madrid would not go for Jurgen Klopp, who is the Global Head of Football at Red Bull, even if the German offered himself: “Klopp needs a year to build a team. He needs that year to reach the physical intensity his game requires to crystallize. And I find it hard to think that at a club like Madrid, he could have a year because results are needed sooner.”
Regarding Lionel Scaloni, he believes that “he is a world champion and no one doubts his quality, but Scaloni has no experience at clubs. It is risky to think that Madrid would be his first experience at club level, and I do not know if it would be wise.”
Fernando Morientes, a footballer at Real Madrid in two different periods (1997 to 2003 and 2004 to 2005), put on the table on the program ‘El Partidazo de COPE’ the name of the coach he would put at Real Madrid.
“If I were the sporting director of Real Madrid, I would put as coach the one who was in the youth academy last year… Raul Gonzalez Blanco,” the former footballer, told Juanma Castano.
“Why did Arbeloa surpass Raul at Madrid? You would have to ask the club. I was very surprised by Raul’s departure, especially how it happened,” he added.
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